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Property development and planning is fundamental to the construction industry; from site identification and analysis, to design, viability and finance. Our BSc (Hons) Property Development and Planning course has been to developed to enable you to focus on adding value to land and property, as an adviser, consultant or developer of the future.

Through our course, you'll develop detailed specialist knowledge and skills, in areas such as spatial and urban design, site appraisal, sustainability, planning and development consultancy, and management of the development process. With an emphasis on practice-based learning through site visits, field work and work placements, you'll develop a comprehensive understanding of property development and planning.

Why study this course?

Our course is accredited by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), recognising the quality and relevance of our course content.

Benefit from our Building Blocks financial package, supporting you throughout your time at NTU and enabling you to make the most of your studies. As well as money towards the cost of your course materials, you’ll also benefit from study trips and live projects, included in the cost of your course fees, and a pre-paid printing allowance.

NTU is one of the leading providers of property education in the UK – we're ranked 5th in the UK for Land and Property Management (Complete University Guide, 2019).

Gain vital skills and experience in the workplace by undertaking a one-year placement.

Experience inspiring trips in the UK and abroad, the cost of which is included in your course fees. Previous trips included visits to Berlin and Hamburg.

Graduate with confidence by taking advantage of our mentoring programme, working alongside an NTU alumnus working in industry.

Apply your learning to the real world, with opportunities to take part in site visits and live projects as part of the course. Your assessments will be based on real projects, supported by companies such as JLL, Rolls-Royce and Igloo.

Learn from academic experts who have both industry experience and academic research knowledge, and who are representatives of professional bodies. You'll also benefit from guest lecturers from industry, supporting your taught sessions each year.

Accredited by:

Student profiles

Find out how our Property, Design and Construction Fair helps our Property Management students network with some of the largest graduate recruiters in the country.

What you'll study

This course equips you to oversee the entire development process, from site identification and analysis, design, viability and finance; through the planning system; and ultimately to the delivery of a development scheme.

Year One

Professional, Academic and Business Skills (20 credits)

This module provides you with an introduction to academic study, to the built environment professions, and to the nature of the work carried out by surveyors.

Surveying Skills (20 credits)

This module will provide you with an introduction to practice and surveying skills, which will be developed throughout the course of your degree and in the workplace.

Construction (20 credits)

This module introduces you to a range of technical, practical and environmental principles involved in the construction of a range of traditional and non-traditional buildings.

It provides a framework for understanding the environmental impact of buildings and introduces the concept of building pathology, which examines why buildings fail.

Economics and Valuation (20 credits)

This module introduces property economics and the links between the economy and the property market, as well as giving you a overview of property valuation.

By the end of the module, you will be able to use economic concepts and the theory of supply and demand to explain activities in the construction and property market.

Law (20 credits)

This module introduces you to the English legal system and its relationship with European Union law.

You will gain an understanding of how law is made, applied and developed, and how it impacts on professional activities within the development and property professions.

Planning and Land Use (20 credits)

This module introduces the concepts and principles of the planning system.

The content of the module is underpinned by the concept of sustainable development, and it considers the impact of climate change on how cities will evolve and adapt in the future.

Year Two

Valuation (20 credits)

In this module you will develop knowledge and understanding of the different approaches to the valuation of property, and examine the application of different techniques employed in the valuation process.

Concepts and Practice in Planning (20 credits)

This module develops an integrated understanding and application of broad planning principles, linking concepts with practice.

You will be encouraged to explore the connections between broad subject areas; for example, the interplay between land use and transportation and related socioeconomic and environmental challenges, whilst recognising the political framework for decision-making and the role that the public and stakeholders play.

Property Management and Agency (40 credits)

This module provides an introduction to the principles, procedures and practices of commercial estate management, property agency, and landlord and tenant law.

You will develop an awareness of the interrelationship between property agents, asset managers and their various clients, and the implications and application of marketing within the property industry.

Property Development: Principles and Practice (20 credits)

This module introduces you to the development process and the commercial drivers behind it. You will examine the roles of various participants in the development process and how they affect its end product.

Employability and Commercial Awareness (20 credits)

This module provides guidance for gaining, and preparing for, employment within the property sector.

You will be introduced to the requirements for the RICS Assessment of Professional Competence and the principles of employment law, Health and Safety at Work regulations, and related procedures.

Year Three

You will get the opportunity to spend a year working in industry. This will give you real, hands-on experience and open up exciting opportunities for your future employment. Many students return to their placement company after graduation.

Recent placement destinations have included Savills, Jaguar Land Rover, Boots, Croudace Homes, and more. The majority of these roles come with a salary, with some students earning up to £20,000 for their year. Roles have included town and country planning undergraduate, undergraduate land buyer, land surveyor, planner, survey assistant, and many more.

Course specification

Our course is accredited by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), recognising the quality and relevance of our course content.

How you’re taught

Most content is delivered through practice-based teaching, which gives you the opportunity to understand the course material and its theoretical framework within the context of real professional practice and activity.

Based on a 40-hour week during term time, approximately 12 hours are spent in scheduled learning. This includes lectures, seminars, tutorials and field work, which includes site visits, field trips, and practical exercises.

You will also be involved in self-directed project work with the support of NOW, our virtual learning environment.

Outside of the timetabled sessions you will need to undertake self-directed independent study. This will include preparing for lectures, researching, completing coursework, and directed reading to expand your knowledge.

Trips and study visits

Site visits and field trips form an integral part of the learning process, allowing you to put theory into practice. Recent UK-based field trips have included:

Sheffield – a visit hosted by Sheffield County Council and South Yorkshire Forest Partnerships. Students gained an insight into regional development activities, visiting several regeneration sites in the city.

London – students visited RICS headquarters, and were given a presentation about the Institution and a tour of the Olympic development site.

London – as part of the Law module, students visited the Houses of Parliament and the High Court, and were given a lecture by a London-based lawyer.

York – a heritage planning and conversation task was set in the historical city to support learning on the Planning and Land Use module.

You'll also go on a week-long European field trip in your second year, with the cost included in your course fees. Students recently visited development sites and industry professionals in Berlin and Hamburg.

Assessment methods

You will be assessed through a mix of coursework, practical exercises and exams. The coursework will make up the majority of your assessment, and will consist of group and individual projects, reports, presentations to your peers, and essays. You will receive feedback throughout each module.

Year One

Coursework

59%

Written work

20%

Practical work

21%

Year Two

Coursework

75%

Written work

25%

Year Three

Optional placement year

Year Four

Coursework

100%

Contact hours

A full-time student on average can expect to spend 1200 hours a year learning which will typically be broken down as follows:

Year One

Lectures/seminars/workshops

30%

Independent study

70%

Year Two

Lectures/seminars/workshops

32%

Independent study

68%

Year Three

Optional placement year

Year Four

Lectures/seminars/workshops

24%

Independent study

76%

NTU is ranked 5th in the UK for Building and Town and Country Planning (The GuardianUniversity Guide 2018).

Staff profiles

Careers and employability

Our course is designed to prepare you to succeed in the property industry, through work placements, working on real projects from industry, input from industry professionals, and regularly updated course content.

Where do Property Development and Planning graduates from NTU work?

NTU has a strong property alumni community, with many graduates working in senior positions in leading national and international companies.

Getting your full RICS membership

If you aspire to become a RICS Chartered Surveyor, you will need to complete at least two years of relevant professional work experience – the Assessment of Professional Competence (APC). If you undertake a sandwich placement, this will normally count as the first year of your professional work experience (only for RICS), however at least 12 months of study must take place on a graduate training scheme. Find out more about how to complete your APC and become RICS qualified.

This course is designed to prepare you for future employment in a number of the RICS APC pathways, which could include:

Planning and Development

Commercial Property Practice

Residential Property Practice

Valuation.

Employability team

Our expert Employability team will work closely with you at every stage of your career planning, providing personal support and advice. You can benefit from this service at any time during your studies, and for up to three years after completing your course. Find out more about the service. Our Employability team run a series of events throughout the year specifically for Property Management and Development students, including our Property, Design and Construction fair, bringing our students together with prospective employers.

Excellent placement opportunities

BSc (Hons) Property Development and Planning students have the opportunity to apply for a year-long work placement (minimum of 36 weeks in one or more organisations). This will give you real, hands-on experience within the industry, opening up exciting opportunities for future employment. Our sandwich route offers this year-long placement option, with a total course length of four years.

Where can you work?

Property Development and Planning students typically gain placements with consultancies, developers, real estate management companies and investors, as well as on the client side, looking after large retail and leisure estates.

Facilities

Facilities for Property students

The majority of your lectures and seminars will take place in the Newton building.

Industry standard software

You will have the opportunity to use and familiarise yourself with our industry-standard software, including:

digital mapping

development appraisal

property and environmental risk information

industry-standard information systems and databases.

Dedicated resource centre

Students in the School of Architecture, Design and the Built Environment have access to a dedicated resource centre. This centre, based in the Maudslay building, enables students to undertake private study in a facility equipped with computers, large format plotters and desk space, together with the latest, and archived, journals and publications.

This resource centre is open from 8 am to 8 pm, Monday to Friday.

IT resources

Our IT resource rooms and PC clusters are distributed across the City site, with PCs providing access to Microsoft Office, email, web browsing, networked file storage, and high-speed online printing services (with a free printing allowance for each student). Resource rooms are available 24 hours a day.

Books and library resources

In the library, you will have access to an extensive and diverse range of books and periodicals that focus on specialist areas within the Built Environment. The library's OneSearch system provides access to all our electronic resources, journals and books.

Within the library there is a liaison librarian who has specialist subject knowledge. They can offer detailed help in finding and using print and electronic resources and also support on things such as Harvard referencing and research skills.

Entry requirements

What are we looking for?

120 UCAS Tariff points from three A-levels or equivalent qualifications; and

GCSEs – English and Maths grade C / 4.

Use our helpful UCAS tariff calculator to convert your qualifications and grades into points, so you can find out if you meet the course requirements.

All applications welcome

We welcome applications from prospective students with a range of qualifications and experience, and all are assessed on an individual basis. Applicants who do not meet the standard entry criteria can still be considered providing they have relevant experience to complement any qualifications. All applicants still need to apply to us through UCAS.

What are we looking for?

120 UCAS Tariff points from three A-levels or equivalent qualifications; and

GCSEs – English and Maths grade C / 4.

Use our helpful UCAS tariff calculator to convert your qualifications and grades into points, so you can find out if you meet the course requirements.

All applications welcome

We welcome applications from prospective students with a range of qualifications and experience, and all are assessed on an individual basis. Applicants who do not meet the standard entry criteria can still be considered providing they have relevant experience to complement any qualifications. All applicants still need to apply to us through UCAS.

Your application

As part of your application, you’ll submit a personal statement. This is your opportunity to tell us about your ambitions, skills and experience. You have 4,000 characters to impress us – here’s how to make your words count.

Keeping up to date

After you've applied, we'll be sending you important emails throughout the application process – so check your emails regularly, including your junk mail folder.

Further information on how to apply

Fees and funding

Preparing for the financial side of student life is important, but there's no need to feel anxious and confused about it. Take a look at our fees and funding pages for lots of handy advice and guidance.

Getting in touch

For more advice and guidance, you can contact our Student Financial Support Service.

Tel: +44 (0)115 848 2494

Our Building Blocks financial package: supporting you throughout your studies

As a student at the School of Architecture, Design and the Built Environment, you’ll also benefit from our Building Blocks financial package, which aims to help minimise the additional costs of study, while you’re here at NTU.

What you’ll receive

Free travel and accommodation for all of the mandatory field trips, exhibitions and events included on your course, including overseas trips (where offered).

All of the materials needed for induction workshops and activities, working within our workshops and laboratories.

Free personal protective equipment (PPE), which usually includes hard-wearing boots, goggles and high-vis vests, to keep you safe on site visits and while working in our workshops.

Access to the free professional body accreditation, as appropriate for your course.

£20 pre-paid printing allowance for use at the NTU Print Shops, and library photocopiers.

You’ll need to cover the cost of your own books, standard drawing and writing equipment and consumables. However, our City Campus library is home to four floors of books, journals and materials (many of which you can access online) – meaning you may not need to purchase as many books as you might think! Our library team work closely with our academics to ensure that our library collection closely matches the topics you’ll be studying, to provide relevant resources for you to use, free of charge.

Our Students’ Union shop and Bonington art shop are great places to pick up drawing and writing equipment at reasonable prices and are located right in the centre of our City Campus. Where optional overseas visits are offered, you will need to meet the cost of these.

While we aim to keep any extra study costs to a minimum, please see our page on additional costs and optional extras to find out about any additional expenses you may incur on your course.

We offer prestigious scholarships to new international students holding offers to study at the University.

Preparing for the financial side of student life is important, but there's no need to feel anxious and confused about it. Take a look at our fees and funding pages for lots of handy advice and guidance.

Getting in touch

For more advice and guidance, you can contact our Student Financial Support Service.

Tel: +44 (0)115 848 2494

Our Building Blocks financial package: supporting you throughout your studies

As a student at the School of Architecture, Design and the Built Environment, you’ll also benefit from our Building Blocks financial package, which aims to help minimise the additional costs of study, while you’re here at NTU.

What you’ll receive

Free travel and accommodation for all of the mandatory field trips, exhibitions and events included on your course, including overseas trips (where offered).

All of the materials needed for induction workshops and activities, working within our workshops and laboratories.

Free personal protective equipment (PPE), which usually includes hard-wearing boots, goggles and high-vis vests, to keep you safe on site visits and while working in our workshops.

Access to the free professional body accreditation, as appropriate for your course.

£20 pre-paid printing allowance for use at the NTU Print Shops, and library photocopiers.

You’ll need to cover the cost of your own books, standard drawing and writing equipment and consumables. However, our City Campus library is home to four floors of books, journals and materials (many of which you can access online) – meaning you may not need to purchase as many books as you might think! Our library team work closely with our academics to ensure that our library collection closely matches the topics you’ll be studying, to provide relevant resources for you to use, free of charge.

Our Students’ Union shop and Bonington art shop are great places to pick up drawing and writing equipment at reasonable prices and are located right in the centre of our City Campus. Where optional overseas visits are offered, you will need to meet the cost of these.

While we aim to keep any extra study costs to a minimum, please see our page on additional costs and optional extras to find out about any additional expenses you may incur on your course.